4:2a–b

Consequently: There are three ways of interpreting the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Consequently :

(1) It introduces purpose: For example:

so that you will live here on earth doing what God wants (New Century Version)

(Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, King James Version, New Century Version)

(2) It introduces result. For example:

From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God’s will and not by human desires. (Good News Translation)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, God’s Word, Good News Translation; possibly New Living Translation (2004))

(3) It introduces an explanation of the meaning of “he who has suffered in his body has done with sin.” For example:

[has finished with sin] in that he spends the rest of his time on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires. (NET Bible)

(Contemporary English Version, New Jerusalem Bible, NET Bible; possibly New Living Translation (2004))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This is the view of the majority of commentators. A Christian renounces or rejects sin so that he or she may live in a way that pleases God.

he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God: In some languages in may be natural to put the positive statement before the negative:

he lives the rest of his earthly life for the will of God, not for evil human desires

not…for human passions: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as not…for human passions here means “not trying to do wrong things any more.” Other ways of translating this include:

no longer concerned about the evil things people desire
-or-
not guided/controlled by sinful human desires (God’s Word)

human passions: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as human passions is simply “desires.” This word generally implies wrong or selfish desires. Some translations such as the New International Version make that explicit by saying “evil desires.” See also the note on 1:14b, where the same word is used. In some languages it may be possible to use a word that itself implies that the desires are wrong. For example:

bad things (Easy English Bible)
-or-
lusts

his remaining time on earth: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as his remaining time on earth is literally “the remaining time in flesh.” It refers to a person’s life on earth after he renounces sin. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

the rest of your lives on earth (God’s Word)
-or-
the rest of your time here in the world

General Comment on 4:1–2

The Berean Standard Bible, like the Greek, switches from the second person (“you”) to the third person (“he”) in 4:1c–2 and then back to the second person again in 4:3. In some languages it may be natural to use second person pronouns throughout. For example, the Contemporary English Version translates 4:1–2 as:

1 Christ suffered here on earth. Now you must be ready to suffer as he did, because suffering shows that you have stopped sinning. 2 It means you have turned from your own desires and want to obey God for the rest of your life. (Contemporary English Version)

© 2018 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.